XRP Reclaims Upbit Helm as Retail Flows Swing Back From Stellar’s DTCC-Fueled Rally XRP has reclaimed the top spot in trading activity on South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, reflecting a sharp shift in retail momentum within one of the market’s most sentiment-driven hubs. Over the past 24 hours, XRP posted about $90.8 million in volume, ahead of Bitcoin at $74.3 million and more than double Ethereum’s $40.2 million. While the figures highlight strong liquidity, the real story lies in the rotation of capital that typically defines Upbit’s fast-moving retail landscape: traders are moving back into XRP after a brief but intense speculative detour. This detour was led by Stellar. Just weeks earlier, XLM briefly overtook XRP on Upbit, surging to roughly $252 million in daily volume versus XRP’s $125 million at the time. It was a rare flip in rankings and a clear example of how quickly narrative-driven flows can reshape the exchange’s trading hierarchy. XRP Reclaims Upbit Lead as Retail Flows Rotate Out of XLM What was the catalyst behind Stellar’s spike? The answer is speculative enthusiasm tied to institutional narrative chatter, including discussions around the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and the Stellar Development Foundation. As a result, the chatter about the tokenization links sparked a classic “buy-the-news” reaction, driving aggressive short-term inflows and pushing XLM into the spotlight. Nevertheless, this momentum seens to have been a passing cloud since this narrative has cooled and liquidity is exiting Stellar and back into higher-liquidity, more established assets. XRP, long supported by deep retail participation in Korea, is emerging as the primary beneficiary of this shift. Its return to the top of Upbit’s rankings is less about a simple volume flip and more about how quickly sentiment resets in high-participation markets. Unlike more institutional venues, Upbit often behaves like a live sentiment gauge, where attention and momentum outweigh longer-term valuation trends. In this latest cycle, traders appear to have rotated back into XRP for its familiarity, deeper order books, and steadier liquidity profile after testing Stellar’s narrative-driven rally. The pattern is familiar since rapid inflows into a mid-cap narrative trade, followed by profit-taking and a return to more liquid anchors. What’s the takeaway? Well, XRP’s renewed dominance on Upbit underscores a recurring reality in crypto markets, narratives move fast, conviction shifts faster, and retail capital continues to oscillate between speculative opportunity and perceived stability.